Prison riot

A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners in attempt to force change or express a grievance.

Prison riots have not been the subject of many academic studies or research inquiries. The analyses that do exist tend to emphasize a connection between prison conditions (such as prison overcrowding) and riots,^[1][2][3] or discuss the dynamics of the modern prison riot.^[4][5] In addition, a large proportion of academic studies concentrate on specific cases of prison riots.^[6][7][8] Other recent research analyzes and examines prison strikes and reports of contention with inmate workers.^[9]

Prison conditions

In the late 20th century, the analyses and conclusions presented to account for prison disturbances and riots began to shift and change based upon new studies and research. Initially, prison riots were considered irrational actions on the behalf of the prisoners. Nevertheless, there has been a shift in the form of explanation as external conditions like overcrowding are promoted by authorities as possible sources of causation.^[10]

List of notable prison riots

1929

• A prison riot occurred at Colorado State Penitentiary (renamed the Colorado Territorial Correctional Facility, Cañon City, Colorado), October 3, 1929 – In addition to the death of eight guards and five prisoners, a majority of the physical plant was destroyed during the riot.

1940s

• Alcatraz Island, California, May 1946 – 5 killed

1950s

• 1954 Missouri State Penitentiary, 4 inmates killed, 29 injured, 4 guards injured.
• 1959 Montana State Prison Riot, 16 April 1959 – 18 April 1959 – 3 people killed

1960s

• Pulau Senang, Singapore, 12 July 1963 – 4 prison officers killed.

1970s

• Attica Prison riot, 1971 – 43 killed
• Kingston Penitentiary riots, 1971 – 2 inmates killed
• Oklahoma State Penitentiary riot, July 1973 – lasted an entire weekend, 3 inmates killed; 24 buildings were damaged and only 4 buildings were left usable.
• Idaho State Penitentiary riots, 1972–1973, 1 inmate killed; many buildings destroyed.
• San Quentin 1973 riot, between BGF and Mexican Mafia.

1980s

• New Mexico State Penitentiary riot, 1980 – 33 killed, over 100 injured
• Dick Conner Correctional Center Riot, August 1983 – one inmate killed, two officers wounded
• Oklahoma State Penitentiary "Disturbance", December 1985 – Held a unit for a day.
• Indiana Reformatory, Pendleton. February 1, 1985. inmates had stabbed seven correctional officers and held three employees hostage for 17 hours
• West Virginia State Penitentiary Riot, January 1–3, 1986
• Fremantle prison riot, 1988
• Michoacán, Mexico, July 1988 – 10 killed, 15 injured
• Atlanta Prison Riots, November 1987
• Davao Penal Colony prison riot, April 2–3, 1989 – 16 hostages taken
• Davao Metrodiscom prison riot, August 13–15, 1989 – 21 killed, including 5 civilian hostages

1990s

• Strangeways Prison riot, April 1990 – 1 inmate killed, 194 injured (147 prison officers, 47 inmates)
• Southport Correctional Facility, New York, June 29, 1990 – 27 people injured
• 1992 Carandiru Massacre, São Paulo, Brazil, October 1992 – 111 inmates killed
• 1990&1994 Carl Robinson Correctional Institution, Enfield, Connecticut 2 dead 36 injured in second
• Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, Easter Sunday, 1993 – 9 inmates killed, 1 corrections officer
• Woodford Correctional Centre Qld Australia 1998

2000s

• Iquique, Chile, May 2001 – at least 28 inmates killed, up to 150 injured
• El Porvenir prison, Honduras, April 2003 – 86 inmates killed
• Camp Bucca, Iraq, January 2005 – 4 inmates killed, 6 injured
• Pavon/Granja Pino Canada/El Hoyon prisons, Guatemala, August 2005 – 35 killed
• San Quentin State Prison, California, January 2006 – at least 25 injured
• Kabul, Afghanistan, February 2006
• Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig siege in 2006 – almost all Abu Sayyaf members who rose up, including several leaders were killed along with several policemen and jail guards
• North County Correctional Facility, Castaic, California, February 2006 – 1 inmate killed, over 100 injured
• New Castle Correctional Facility Riot, New Castle, Indiana, 24 April 2007^[11]
• Santa Ana prison in San Cristobal, Tachira Venezuela, December 2007 – 30 inmates killed
• Ciudad Juárez riots, March 2009 – 20 killed
• 2009 Northpoint Training Center riot in Danville, Kentucky, August 21, 2009 – 80 inmates involved, 5 buildings burned down.

2010s

• El Manzano prison riot following the 2010 Chile earthquake, February 28, 2010
• Chiang Mai, Thailand prison riot, April 30, 2010
• Igoumenitsa, Greece prison riot, May 1, 2010
• Ford Open Prison, West Sussex, United Kingdom, January 1, 2011
• 2011 Antofagasta riots in Antofagasta, Chile, February 20, 2011
• Apodaca prison riot, February 19, 2012
• Adams County Correctional Facility, Natchez, Mississippi, May 20, 2012
• 2013 Uribana prison riot, Barquisimeto, Venezuela, January 25, 2013 – 54 inmates killed, 90 injured
• Willacy County Correctional Center, February 20, 2015
• Holman Correctional Facility, March 12, 2016

Gulag uprisings

• Norilsk uprising, May 1953 – strike
• Vorkuta uprising, July 1953 – 66 killed
• Kengir uprising, May 1954 – 37 killed (Official Soviet figure), 500–700 killed (Prisoner provided figure)

List of fictional prison riots

The following is a list of prison riots which have been depicted in various forms of media, including books, film, and television.

• In Battlefield 4, main charachters Daniel Recker and Dimitri Mayakovsky (returning from Battlefield 3) instigate a mass prison prison breakout which evolves into a riot to escape PLA custody in the Kunlun mountains prison facility.
• In Toy Story 3, Buzz Lightyear is trapped in a prison cubby by his own prisoners, starting a prison riot.
• In season three of the FOX show 24, the main character, Jack Bauer, starts a prison riot.
• A riot occurred at Fox River during Prison Break's first season's two-part episode "Riots, Drills, and the Devil".
• Network Ten created a TV series called Prisoner (Prisoner Cell Block H in some countries), a show set in a prison in Melbourne, this had multiple riots through the series run.
• Multiple riots occurred in the television series Oz during its season six run.
• On St. Elsewhere, the show featured a prison riot, where Jack Morrison (David Morse) is raped by a prisoner.
• In The Simpsons episode "The Homer They Fall", a prison riot in progress is halted instantly when imprisoned champion boxer Drederick Tatum petulantly asks the inmates and guards to "Shut up." They apologize and begin extinguishing the flames and tidying up.
• Episode 285 of Blue Heelers, Stir Crazy
• The riot in the film Natural Born Killers.
• In the film Blood in Blood out, in San Quentin State Prison, after gangleader Montana was killed.
• In the movie Scum, by Alan Clarke the borstal inmates protest the official indifference that led to the suicide of one of the boys on the night before that he had been raped. It is not clear whether the perpetrators of the rape had participated. During the scene the inmates refuse to eat breakfast, and one by one they start chanting the eponymous "scum" and proceed to demolish the canteen, with the staff locking themselves into a secure area. The movie ends shortly after in the final scene with the governor claiming to mourn the death of the boy, whilst informing the inmates there is full loss of privileges "until the damage has been paid for".
• In the graphic novel and film Watchmen, after a burn victim of Rorschach dies, a prison riot breaks out in an attempt to kill him. Rorschach escapes with the aid of Nite-Owl and Silk Spectre.
• In the episode A Game of Checkers of the HBO television series Oz, a riot breaks out in Oswald Pen.'s Emerald City, with Muslim activist 'Kareem Saïd' (real name Goodson Truman) leading it (with the help of a gun given to him by a Muslim prison guard. It is eventually broken up with tear gas and a SWAT team.
• In Episode 6 of the 3rd season of the British TV show Ashes to Ashes, a prison riot occurs at Fenchurch East Prison.
• In the episode "Redemptio" in season 6 of CBS television series CSI: NY, Sheldon Hawkes gets trapped in a prison riot while investigating the death of a prison guard.
• Critically awarded Spanish film, Celda 211 is largely centered on a riot in a Zamora jail.
• In the game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Irving Lambert has two splinter cells stage a riot to help Sam Fisher escape with Jamie Washington in an effort for Sam to gain Jamie's trust and lead him to Jamie's terrorist organization, the JBA.
• In the game Call of Duty: Black Ops, main characters Reznov and Mason plan and escape during the Vorkuta uprising.
• 2010 film Dog Pound ends in a riot.
• In the novel The Four Stages of Cruelty Corrections Officer Kali Williams is involved in the breaking up of a prison riot inside Ditmarsh Penitentiary.
• In the novel Green River Rising by Tim Willocks, set in a fictional east Texas state penitentiary, short stint inmate Ray Klein faces a riot on the very day he is to be released. The ensuing violence could threaten his release or his life (William Morrow, New York, 1994).
• A prison riot is the focus of Batman: Arkham Asylum, instigated by the Joker in Arkham Asylum.
• In both the beginning and the climax for Batman: Arkham Origins, Batman has to contend with two prison riots at Blackgate prison, both caused by the Joker (the first while disguised as Black Mask). In addition, one portion of the game had Batman quelling a prison riot at the GCPD headquarters that was instigated by corrupt police officers wanting to make Gordon look bad.
• The main focus of Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate was a prison riot that occurred at Blackgate prison.

Season 4 of Orange is the New Black ends with a prison riot following the death of an inmate

See also

• Prison escape

Notes